Beg, Borrow, Or Steal by Sarah Adams [ARC Review]

*I’d like to thank NetGalley, Headline Eternal, and Sarah Adams for providing me with a free eARC in exchange for an honest review.

“Beg, Borrow, or Steal” by Sarah Adams is the fourth instalment of the “When in Rome”-series and follows the story of the eldest Walker sister Emily and her arch-nemesis Jack on their journey from rivals to lovers.

The story begins with Jack Bennett returning to the small town Rome, Kentucky. Though able to charm everyone around him, there is exactly one person he cannot seem to win over: Emily Walker. From rivalry at university to rivalry at their shared work space at an elementary school, Jack and Emily had many exchanges, most of them containing foul comments and threats. Yet, it is Emily that inspires Jack to return to Rome after ending his engagement to his long term girlfriend. He cannot seem to get her out of his head, now she lives next door and Jack is set to explore those strange feelings underneath all the quarreling. Luckily for him, Emily is very much in need of some attention and writing advice. After all her siblings started living their dreams and settling down, Emily feels left behind and a little lonely. All of her frustration is channeled into her writing project, but something is holding back. Something that Jack, who secretly is also a writer, helps to unravel, just like all the feelings she has been harvesting for the cute guy with glasses that gets on her nerves…

Though this novel can be read as a standalone and reviewed as such, I will discuss in the context of the series. Among all the three books in the series so far, Emily’s story has been the weakest so far. After two books of buildup to the eldest of the bunch, it was a rather disappointing experience. The biggest difference between this novel and the instalments before is the lack of depth. While Annie and Noah’s stories were also romantic comedies, the heartache and personal conflict part was executed much better. 

This book tries to go down many roads, yet never arrives anywhere fulfilling. For one we have Emily and her struggles as the eldest daughter, her aspirations of becoming a writer, and her problems with intimacy, on the other we have Jack, a teacher with a secret writing career, battling his narcissistic father and also tortured by a lack of trust in anyone. Emily’s struggle with being the eldest daughter, seeing herself responsible for everyone in the Walker family and prioritizing the happiness of others instead of her own, is mostly just brushed over. A sad choice considering that many could identify with such pressures as the oldest sibling in the family. But the resolution of this family conflict was very unsatisfying. All it took was one mediocre conversation with her sisters and all was good. Her career as a writer was mostly used as a plotpoint to create a connection with Jack, and her intimacy problems were lost in the inconsistency of her character. Similar problems arose with Jack whose secret writing career was so low angst that I didn’t really get why he kept it under covers. His narcissistic father barely played any role, and there was no exploration of correlation of his difficult relationship with his parents and his personal relationships. And his lack of trust also got lost in the weird inconsistency in his character. 

I think Adams tried to go with a black cat and golden retriever type of relationship, but in the end the roles of who was supposed to be who were very unclear. Emily is a warm person when it comes to her pupils, siblings and anyone in town, but mostly cold when it comes to letting in men. So, I thought it was a little strange to constantly brand her as the cold and quiet one when in the context of the story does not make that much sense. Like many MMCs in recent works Jack lacks a truck load of personality. He was just random attractive traits thrown into a pot with a pinch of secrecy. For someone surviving a household with an alcoholic and narcissistic father I expected a bit more edge, but he was as hardcore as an overcooked noodle. 

Their romance made sort of sense, but as so many novels before I didn’t buy the whole nemesis bit. Jack tried to flirt with Emily after the day her boyfriend broke up with her, and she hates him for the next decade or something. It seems a little too silly for me. Being rivals yes, but the whole bickering and being mean not really. I liked a bit of their chemistry. Especially all the scenes Jack catches Emily in her satin pyjama sets. I wish there would have been more of Jack trying to reenact the scenes of Emily’s novels with her, I thought that bit was very fun. When they were trapped in the closet at the principal’s house, the steam was off the charts, and I think that was one of the best scenes romance wise in this novel. A physical representation of how emotionally close they have grown over the past weeks. That was very lovely. 

Like always in this series I love the entire cast of side characters. I especially enjoyed Annie and Will’s relationship in the aftermath of their own story. It was such a treat to see them finally get engaged, and everyone being so supportive. Even Mable’s role in this novel was superb as the figure to talk some sense into Jack and seeing Emily in her true form. There was much built up for Maddie’s story, and I very much look forward to it. 

This book is a little steamier than the ones before. I guess, after Adams finished her first open door romance, she opened the door a bit more in this series as well. I do not mind this decision, but I am a bit hesitant if having such a change midway in a series is the best decision.

Overall, this novel does have the Sarah Adams’ feel good vibes, fun dialogue and most importantly a return to my favourite small town in Kentucky. I wish there would have been more depth in character exploration and development, as well as a more believable overall conflict. The plot seemed a bit too vague in my eyes, and I wish a clearer story outline would have framed Emily’s story. I hope for more satisfaction in the next instalment, as the buildup so far appears very promising.